In agriculture, augers are frequently used to move material from a cart to another cart, silo, truck, or other storage facility. Augers used to move grain are known as grain augers and are frequently employed in grain carts. A typical grain auger includes an auger screw of constant diameter and pitch that is housed inside a tubular housing or shaft to form an auger assembly. An intake portion of the auger assembly can draw from a hopper (usually by gravity) attached to it to receive grain or other material from the hopper and the other end (i.e., the discharge end) has a chute or the like to guide the grain or other material into its destination. It is well known in the art to attach an auger assembly to a grain cart to off-load the grain cart.
As a grain cart with a fully extended auger can be somewhat unwieldy during transport, many grain carts employ folding augers that can open to an operating position and fold to a transport position. In general, a folding auger assembly includes a lower auger assembly and an upper auger assembly. When in the operating position, the upper and lower auger assemblies function as one co-linear auger. When in the transport position, the upper auger portion folds to reduce the height and the width of the grain cart. Folding the auger assembly makes it easier to transport the grain cart on roads.
U.S. Patent Application Publication Nos. 2004/0184905, 2007/0119688, and 2005/0238470 as well as U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,655,872, 5,340,265, 4,846,621, 5,628,608, 6,422,376 all disclose folding augers with distinct disadvantages. For instance, none of them maximize side and forward reach when in an operating position and minimize transport size when in a transport position. Another disadvantage of prior art folding augers is that the folding motion may not clear the cab of some tractors, making it difficult to convert the auger between operating and transport positions.
Grain carts with folding augers come in two main varieties: front-folding augers and side-folding augers. Front-folding augers fold along a front of the grain cart and typically the upper auger assembly must be no longer than the width of the grain cart (or the hypotenuse from the pivot point to the ground if it is a diagonally-folding front auger), otherwise it would extend beyond a side wall of the grain cart when in the transport position making travel on a roadway dangerous. An example of a front-folding auger may be found in co-owned U.S. Pat. No. 9,039,340, the disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. Side-folding augers are typically longer than front-folding augers, and can achieve greater height and reach than front-folding augers. However, a disadvantage with existing side-folding augers is the limited visibility of the discharge operation from the viewpoint of an operator in a tractor towing the grain cart due to the limited forward reach of existing side-folding augers.